The leader of the East Timor guerrilla forces, Mr Xanana Gusmao, receives visitors in a small tiled room of a Jakarta bungalow, with a crucifix hanging on the wall between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary and a fan whirring quietly in a corner. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, yesterday became the latest, and one of the most senior, international figures to make a pilgrimage to the dwelling in a bustling laneway full of traders and urchins, where Mr Gusmao has been under house arrest since his release from prison in January.
Mr Andrews arrived straight from a meeting with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, at which he had asked for the immediate release of Mr Gusmao in the interests of confidence-building in resolving the East Timor crisis, and he relayed to him Mr Alatas's reply: that Mr Gusmao had a "special status" and would be freed only as part of an overall solution. Under the terms of his detention, the East Timor leader, who is serving an 18-year sentence for resisting the Indonesian annexation of East Timor in 1976, may not go outside the metal perimeter bars, to which Plexiglas has been attached to enforce privacy.
Mr Andrews, accompanied by the Irish Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Brendan Lyons and other Foreign Affairs officials, told Mr Gusmao that his visit, the first by an EU foreign minister, was a symbol of the concern of the international community about the situation in East Timor.
That concern was heightened by a report yesterday that five youths were shot dead by the military near the East Timor capital, Dili, and two guerrillas and a soldier killed in a separate incident. The Irish delegation, which flies to Dili today for a one-day round of meetings, also includes Mr Tom Hyland of the East Timor Ireland campaign. Mr Hyland's first meeting with Mr Gusmao was a deeply emotional event.
It almost did not come about, as Indonesian officials initially refused to sanction any direct contact between the hero of East Timor independence and the former Dublin bus driver who has tirelessly championed his cause. Mr Hyland had arrived before Mr Andrews and found his way barred by khaki-uniformed Justice Department officials. However, Mr Andrews insisted that he be allowed in and the officials relented. Mr Gusmao, a slight figure in neat blue shirt and tie, embraced Mr Hyland warmly and thanked him and the Minister for their solidarity. Mr Andrews said last night that in a three-hour discussion earlier with Mr Alatas he had received an assurance that the new East Timor policy announced by President B.J. Habibie of Indonesia in January still stood.
He expected the details of the process to be worked out at meetings in New York next week involving the Portuguese and Indonesian governments and the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, and said he was assured by Mr Alatas that it would be a one person-one-vote process. Mr Andrews said he hoped Irish monitors would be involved in the final voting process. "I believe that the people of East Timor have a democratic right to decide for autonomy or for independence," he said. "If I personally was voting, I would be voting for independence." Mr Gusmao used the occasion of the visit to call again for a ceasefire in East Timor, and expressed confidence that both the East Timor diaspora and the indigenous people would vote for independence. Both Mr Andrews and Mr Hyland said they found Mr Gusmao to be a man of moderation and peace.
"The meeting reaffirmed my opinion that he is a moderate in the equation but that's not to say that he's not determined to safeguard his people," said Mr Hyland. "I think he may be a somewhat annoyed that the moderation he has shown has been interpreted by some militias in East Timor and some people in ABRI [the Indonesian army] as a sign of weakness. East Timor may be in a David and Goliath situation but their resolve to see this through to a final solution is as strong as ever."
Mr Andrews said he believed there was a general goodwill amongst all parties for a peaceful solution, despite recent bloody events in East Timor. He will meet President Habibie on Monday.
The Irish party is travelling by chartered jet to the remote territory where tension is running high and pro-integration forces have distributed pamphlets ordering people to fly red and white Indonesian flags from their homes "or be treated as enemies".
Amnesty International yesterday claimed the Indonesian armed forces and pro-Jakarta paramilitary groups were deliberately trying to destabilise East Timor ahead of the July ballot on autonomy.